London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Muslim Brotherhood 'plotting return to power from a shop in Cricklewood'

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is plotting its return to power from headquarters in a rundown shop in north-west London, it was claimed today.

The organisation has been outlawed after senior leader Mohammed Morsi was deposed as Egypt’s first democratically elected president by the military last July.

Morsi and hundreds of supporters are behind bars and more than 1,000 people have died in ensuing violence.

Now the Brotherhood, with millions of supporters worldwide, is said to be co-ordinating its operations from a property on Cricklewood Broadway run by relatives of two Morsi aides arrested with him.

Brotherhood official Ibrahim Mounir, based in the UK, said the organisation’s highest orders still come from Cairo, but the London office is a hub where members can meet in safety. It also houses the Islamic World Media Services, which said it gave the Brotherhood shelter because “we have the same values”.

Meanwhile Egyptians began voting in a two-day referendum on a new constitution designed by the army to validate Morsi’s removal. The vote is being boycotted by the Brotherhood.